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VEDS
Vlog Every Day in September, more colloquially known as VEDS, is a multi-channel event where vloggers make a video every day in the month of September, interacting with one another and with their subscribers. YouTubers who attempt the VEDS challenge are referred to as VEDSies. Common Elements There are several common themes that appear in nearly every VEDSie's videos at some point during the month of VEDS. The first theme that is usually encountered is... Denial of Full Commitment Most VEDSies, when they start out, choose to remain vague about whether they are actually making a serious attempt at the whole VEDS thing. This is mainly done so that the individual will feel like less of a failure if they do back out later. Only the most seasoned of VEDSies usually make the full commitment at the starting point. But you can't really blame these folks for having a hard time committing, because of the scourge that is... Burnout Inevitably, anyone attempting to complete the VEDS challenge will experience burnout, that inevitable point they reach about halfway through the month when they start to scrape the bottom of the idea bucket, desperately trying to find some kind of way to keep their creative juices flowing. Sometimes, they will have to resort to the staple that is... The Video About How There Is Nothing To Make Videos About At some point, a VEDSie will likely run completely dry on things to say for a video, and they will be forced to make A Video About How There Is Nothing To Make Videos About. These videos are rarely entertaining, and usually only succceed in making the VEDSie and their subscribers realize that it's probably time to think about some... Challenges One of the primary ways in which VEDSies deal with burnout is to issue challenges to one another, and solicit challenges from their subscribers. It is, after all, much easier to cope with a lack of ideas if you've got someone else coming up with the ideas for you. Sometimes this can be as simple as simply being challenged to read a book or watch a movie and talk about it, or make a video about a specific topic. Sometimes they can be rather elaborate, such as making a single video in several different loactions, going someplace the VEDSie has never gone before, or the Trailer Challenge. Challenges are important, because if the participant does end up failing to make a video for a given day, this can lead to... Punishments When a VEDSie fails in his or her video-making duty, that person must often face punishment for their actions. Punishments are generally either gross, uncomfortable, embarassing, or some combination of the three. Punishments are another big reason that many newbie VEDSies do not fully commit to the VEDS project. If they didn't say they were doing it for sure, then they can't be punished for failure, right? But whether they accept punishment or not, most VEDSies will eventually reach... The Home Stretch We've almost made it! It's the last week of VEDS! And it seemed so far away! At this point, the VEDSies will scramble to finish any uncompleted challenges, and any stragglers who gave up halfway through will usually pop back in to get in on the last hurrah. And at last, the VEDSies cross the finish line as they reach... The Final Video This is it. The last video of the month. Suddenly you're not sure what you want to do. All these video ideas are pouring into your head from seemingly nowhere. Sometimes, several VEDSies will collaborate to make a Secret Project for the last day. The rest of the time, they just make a video reflecting back on the previous month. The next day, they wake up, and it's finally... The First of October Camera? What's that? I'm going back to sleep. VEDS Project History 2009 Participants: Jethro, Gretchen, Jesse Gretchen was the one who originally conceived of the VEDS project, although at that time it was simply referred to the "September Vlog Challenge." In the comments of her first video of the month, Jesse and Jethro declared thier intentions to help her out by taking the challenge along with her and offer mutual support and creative energy. Thus was the first round of VEDS born. More to come. 2010 Participants: Matt, Jesse, Alicia More to come. 2011 Participants: Matt, Jethro, Jesse More to come.